Category Archives: Freedom Photo

Happy Veterans Day – Thank you Hub Group for #CauseContainer!

Posted on by

Happy Veterans Day to everyone, and a big thanks to all who have served in the armed forces and are servicing today.  We deeply appreciate your dedication and service to preserve the freedom we loved.

Today, I learned of a great project, Cause Container, sponsored by the Hub Group, in Chicago, Illinois. The project byline is “Transporting a message of hope and action.” The misson:

Hub Group created the Cause Container project as a fun way for everyone at Hub Group to share something we all believe in — giving back. The goal of this ongoing endeavor is simple. To raise as much money for and awareness about our charities as possible to celebrate their achievements and prolong their efforts. With your help spreading the word, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Today, on Veteran’s Day, I saw the #CauseContainer for Fisher House Foundation:

Fisher House Foundation is best known for a network of comfort homes where military and veterans’ families can stay at no cost while a loved one is receiving treatment. These homes are located at major U.S. military and VA medical centers nationwide, close to the medical center or hospital it serves. Fisher House Foundation ensures that there is never a fee. Since inception, the program has saved military and veteran families an estimated $200 million in out of pocket costs for lodging and transportation.

CauseContainer

Whenever a photo of this CauseContainer is posted on Social Media, the Hub Group will donate to the Fisher House Charities!  What a great way to honor veterans and their families!

Hub Group created the Cause Container project as a fun way for everyone at Hub Group to share something we all believe in — giving back. The goal of this ongoing endeavor is simple. To raise as much money for and awareness about our charities as possible to celebrate their achievements and prolong their efforts. With your help spreading the word, that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Red, White and Blue for Independence Day

Posted on by

Some of my dear family members celebrated Independence day by dressing the part – Red, White and Blue through and through.

Cloe dazzles us with her big smile.  Too bad Gramps’s photo-taking skills weren’t commensurate with her smile!

image

Chloe’s parents, Myron and Angie, are red, white and blue patriots!

image

Sorry, Holly (our daughter), for cutting off your nose, but you headband is super cool! (She makes these custom headbands herself, by the way.)

image

Thanks for brightening up Independence Day for us all this year.

PS.  I called my Mom in Idaho tonight.  She also dressed in red, white and blue, but I don’t have her photo.

Sparklers for the First Time

Posted on by

Happy Independence Day!  We’ve had a busy day with church and family today, so I am just finding time to post a few of my feelings about independence and freedom on this site.  I will share several items that inspired me this Fourth of July, plus perhaps a few few extra thoughts of my own as well.

First on the list is this great photo of my grandson Devlin experiencing the thrill of a sparkler for the first time.  He is vacationing with his family in Utah where such exciting things are still legal.

Thanks to Devlin’s mom for posting this photo on Facebook!

image

Do you remember the magic and awe that you felt when you were Delvin’s age and celebrated Indepence Day with sparklers?  It was a great tradition for our family when we were growing up in Southern Idaho.

Happy Fourth of July Devlin and all you sparkler-awed kids!

John Olsen – Celebrating Independence Day

Posted on by

My good friend John Olsen started celebrating Independence Day a week early this year by wearing his patriotic tie to church on June 27th.  He graciously allowed me to take his picture for this blog.

image

Thanks, John, for your uplifting, patriotic example for all of us.  Happy Independence Day!

If any of you would like to send me a patriotic photo of yourself to post on this blog, please let me know by posting a comment on this post.

Don’t Be Ashamed of Their Ultimate Sacrifice

Posted on by

Thanks to my friend Bryan Green for sharing this thought-provoking photo essay.

Our European arrogance in alphabetical order …

1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France.. A total of 2,289
clip_image001

2. The American Cemetery at  Ardennes, Belgium.  A total of 5,329
clip_image002

3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4,410
clip_image003

4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468
clip_image004

5. Cambridge, England. A total of 3,812
clip_image005

6. Epinal, France American Cemetery. A total of 5,525
clip_image006

7. Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368
clip_image007

8. Florence, Italy. A total of 4,402
clip_image008

9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. A total of 7,992
clip_image009

10. Lorraine, France. A total of 10,489
clip_image010

11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. A total of 5,076
clip_image011

12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14,246
clip_image012

13. Netherlands, Netherlands . A total of 8,301
clip_image013

14.  Normandy, France. A total of 9,387
clip_image014

15. Oise-Aisne, France. A total of 6,012
clip_image015

16. Rhone, France . A total of 861
clip_image016

17. Sicily, Italy. A total of 7,861
clip_image017

18. Somme, France . A total of 1,844
clip_image018

19. St.. Mihiel, France. A total of 4,153
clip_image019

20.  Suresnes, France. A total of 1,541
clip_image020

Apologize to no one. Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse arrogance with leadership.

The count is 104,366 dead brave Americans.

And we have to watch an

American elected leader who apologizes to Europe and the Middle East that our country is "arrogant"!

HOW MANY FRENCH, DUTCH, ITALIANS, BELGIANS AND BRITS ARE BURIED ON OUR SOIL, DEFENDING US AGAINST OUR ENEMIES?

WE DON’T ASK FOR PRAISE … BUT WE HAVE ABSOULUTELY NO NEED TO APOLOGIZE!!

del.icio.us Tags: ,,,

Floral Flag

Posted on by

Thanks to my friend Grant Palmer for leading me to this beautiful flag.

“This Flag is 6.65 acres and is the first Floral Flag to be planted with 5 pointed Stars comprised of White Larkspur. Each Star is 24 feet in diameter; Each Stripe is 30 feet wide. This Flag is estimated to contain more than 400,000 Larkspur plants with 4-5 flower stems each for a total of more than 2 million flowers. You can drive by this flag on V Street south of Ocean Ave. in Lompoc, CA.”

image

“The 2002 Floral Flag is 740 feet wide and 390 feet high and maintains the proper Flag dimensions as described in Executive Order #10834.”

Aerial photo courtesy of Bill Morson

Moon Walk, July 20, 1969

Posted on by

I grew up in rural Idaho in a home without television. But forty years ago today, our family stopped by a neighbor’s home on the way home from evening church service to watch television coverage of the the moon landing. What a wonderful experience! I had grown up through the age of Sputnik, Vanguard, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. The first time I can remember being punished for doing something wrong was when I stole paper from my first grade classroom to draw pictures of rockets! To witness the first manned space flight to the moon was fantastic.

Flag on Moon

So today, as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of this event, I tip my hat again to all those who made it possible – from President Kennedy who challenged the nation to accomplish this incredible feat – to the engineers who used slide rules, not handheld calcualtors, to design the equipment – to the brave astronauts who had the privilege to make the journey. Bravo all!